Saya menelan obat dengan air hangat.

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Breakdown of Saya menelan obat dengan air hangat.

• dengan: with
• hangat: warm
• obat: the medicine

Questions & Answers about Saya menelan obat dengan air hangat.

What does menelan mean here, and is it the usual verb for taking medicine?

Menelan literally means to swallow. In this sentence, it focuses on the physical act of swallowing the medicine.

Yes, it is correct, but it is a bit more specific than English take medicine. In Indonesian:

• menelan obat = to swallow medicine
• minum obat = to take/drink medicine

Very often, Indonesians say minum obat even for pills, because it is the most common everyday expression for taking medicine.
So this sentence is natural, but Saya minum obat dengan air hangat may sound more like the usual everyday way to say it.

Why is it obat and not something more specific like pil?

Obat means medicine in general. It can refer to:

• pills
• tablets
• liquid medicine
• medicine in a broad sense

So obat is a general word, just like medicine in English.

If you want to be more specific, you could say:

• pil = pill
• tablet = tablet
• sirup obat = medicinal syrup

But in many situations, obat is enough.

What does dengan mean in this sentence?